Military forces carried out what appeared to be a limited strike on Iranian targets in the Strait of Hormuz hours before Tuesday’s midterm US elections. For weeks, US President Donald Trump had stated he was considering a new wave of strikes on Iran following the vote.
Iranian state media reported explosions on the islands of Qeshm and Hengam in the strategic Strait of Hormuz, as well as in the nearby mainland area of Bandar Abbas. A US official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said on Monday that the strikes targeted Iranians using surface-to-air missiles against the US in the waterway. The Trump administration was last known to have carried out attacks in early September.
The Middle East had been on edge regarding the prospects of the US resuming full-scale operations against Iran for the first time in almost two months. Thousands of US troops remain in the waters off Iran to maintain a naval blockade aimed at preventing tankers carrying Iranian oil from reaching the global market. Another aircraft carrier and thousands of troops are also on their way to the Middle East.
Talks aimed at avoiding a full resumption of hostilities are ongoing. Other American allies in the region are pressuring the US not to resume the more than eight-month-old war that has rattled the global economy and wreaked havoc on Iran. The unpopular war and the resulting impact on US gasoline prices and other parts of the economy have been a vulnerability for the Republican Party as it tries to keep control of Congress.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu pressed Trump for renewed military action against Iran after the US elections during a call over the weekend, according to two regional officials and a third person familiar with the matter. The two officials said diplomatic efforts have made progress and that mediators are trying to advance a framework for Iran to cease its attacks in the strait in return for the US lifting its blockade.
Speaking before the US official confirmed the strikes, US Vice President JD Vance said on Monday that he and Trump both felt good about the prospects for potentially coming to a negotiated settlement. Trump has alternated between threatening major strikes and pushing for a deal with Iran.
The head of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council said Tuesday that the US response to Tehran’s demands to end the war was not convincing. Maj. Gen. Mohsen Rezaei wrote on social media that the strait will not reopen until the US addresses Iran’s conditions. Iran has offered to reopen the strait and resume talks on its nuclear program if the US lifts its naval blockade on Iranian ports, waives sanctions on Iranian oil sales, and observes a ceasefire including in Lebanon.
Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi has called on Iran and the US to engage in dialogue and reach an agreement to resolve their ongoing conflict, warning against military escalation in the region. Iranian state television quoted the country’s chief negotiator and parliament speaker, Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf, as saying on Tuesday that Iran had delivered a firm and rational response to the American side and that the ball is now in America’s court to prevent war.
